March 2014 Trail Dispatch

Ice Age Trail Trail Dispatch

March 2014

Chapter Meeting, Monday March 17

The Chippewa Moraine Chapter will kick off it’s 2014 season with a meeting on Monday, March 17 at 6:30 PM at the Chippewa Falls Public Library. All Ice Age Trail Alliance members and anyone interested in the Ice Age Trail are encouraged to attend.

The agenda includes reviewing the activities schedle for the season and planning the spring work days, hikes, and other activities.

While chapter activity has been happening only in the background for the past several months, April begins the spring trail activity season. The Annual Conference is coming up on April 10-13 at Sturgeon Bay, our spring trail cleanup is scheduled for Saturday, April 19. An MSC crew leadership and skills training workshop is April 23-27, and the Outdoor Adventure Expo closes out the month.

May escalates with a Sunday Hike, a Trail Improvement Day, and an open house event at the location of the next trail expansion in the Krank Preserve. In addition, a MSC project in nearby Taylor County is planned for May 13-18.

All scheduled events are posted on the IATA web site for easy reference throughout the season. There’s a link on this page at the top of the column to the right, or bookmark http://chippewamoraine.iceagetrail.org/chapter-events.

These scheduled events mask the variety of more individualized projects needing to be undertaken by volunteers in spring, such as refreshing the trail map boxes, a refresh of the Hwy CC kiosk, beginning a systematic trail re-blazing project, and ongoing trail clearing and mowing.

Of course, it is St Patrick’s Day, a traditional harbinger of spring, so we’ll spin a little blarney and share our winter war stories as well. So come fired up for spring, and mild days ahead on the trail.

Register for IATA Annual Conference

The IATA Annual Conference always gets us fired up for the coming season, provides a chance to renew friendships made from around the state, offers inspiring speakers, sharpens up our trail knowledge, and allows us to participate in governing the organization through the Annual Member Meeting. The event is April 10-13 at Sturgeon Bay, and will provide many with an opportunity to explore some eastern-most segments of the trail on the group hikes.

The full Door County experience is in store at the lodge that hosts the event, but you’ll need to get your room reserved!

A new episode of Discover Wisconsin will be premiered, as well as an inspiring talk on the midwest conservation pioneers that inspired our trail and the conservation movement. Awards from the Alliance and from the National Park Service are always a highlight, as is the silent auction!

You can register with the form in the spring Mammoth Tales, or by downloading it at the IATA web site.